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Is Baker Mayfield set up for Jordan-esque flu game?

Michelle R. Martinelli
Published 1:25 p.m. ET Dec. 30, 2017

Two days before the Rose Bowl, Baker Mayfield is still sick. The Oklahoma quarterback has been battling flu-like symptoms this week, and he has missed multiple bowl-related events in the last few days.

He wasn't expected to speak Saturday at the game's media day, and Sooners coach Lincoln Riley was peppered with questions about his quarterback.

"He was pretty sick on the trip out (to Pasadena, California)," Riley said, via ASAP Sports, noting that Mayfield's energy levels are not normal. "Got a little worse there for a couple of days, and hopefully starting to level off now. … He'll be ready to play. Will he be at 100 (percent) physically? We'll see. But he's not going to miss this one."

Mayfield eventually showed up to media day, saying he didn't think it was right for his teammates to have to answer questions on his behalf. But as he addressed the media and provided a vague "flu or whatever you want to call" it diagnosis, his raspy voice made it clear that he's pretty sick.

Baker Mayfield on his illness: "There was something going around and a couple of other guys on the team got it. It’s flu-like. I wouldn’t say it’s the flu but it’s pretty much something like that."#Sooners

It's going to take more than flu-like symptoms to keep Mayfield out of the College Football Playoff semifinal Monday (5 p.m. ET, ESPN). But people have already started bracing themselves for the Heisman Trophy winner to bust out a Michael Jordan style flu game.

During the 1997 NBA Finals, Jordan scored 38 points to give the Chicago Bulls a win over the Utah Jazz while he was violently ill. If Mayfield is not well for the Rose Bowl but manages to carry the Sooners to victory and a shot at the national championship, this won't be the end of the flu game comparisons.

After original reports he would not attend Baker Mayfield has defied all odds and is now taking questions from media in what no doubt is a Jordan flu game-like media performance